We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

2024 Sun June 16

Sunday Links, June 16, 2024

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost June 16, 11am

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  • Location – 823 Water Street, P. O. Box 399, Port Royal, Virginia 22535
  • Staff and Vestry

  • Wed., June 12, Shred-It, 1:30pm. Secured recycling
  • Servers, June 16, 11am
    Lector: Andrea Pogue
    Chalice Bearer: Johnny Davis
    Altar Clean up: Jan Saylor
  • Tues., June 18, Chancellor Village Eucharist, 1pm
  • Wed., June 19, Ecumenical Bible Study, Parish House, 10am-12pm  Reading Lectionary for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, June 23, Track 2
  • Wed., June 19, Village Harvest food distribution, 3pm-4pm Call Andrea (540) 847-9002 to volunteer. All help is welcome for this vital St Peter’s ministry. Time of food pick up and unloading of food to be announced for earlier in the week and help will be needed
  • Wed., June 19, Juneteenth
  • Wed., June 20, World Refugee Day

  • May newsletter
  • All articles for Sunday, June 16, 2024

    • Recent Articles, June 16, 2024, The Fourth Sunday after the Pentecost

    Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, June 16
    Larry’s new guitar
    Photos
    Videos
    Bulletin
    Sermon
    Lectionary, June 16, 11am service
    Commentary
    Visual lectionary from Vanderbilt
    8 Sundays of Mark’s Early Ministry
    Looking into the lectionary
    So, What is an Epistle?
    Father’s Day Prayer
    All about Juneteenth (June 19)
    World Refugee Day, June 20
    Connection between Juneteenth and World Refugee Day
    Why we should welcome refugees?
    Anything but Ordinary! Ordinary Time
    Celebrating Midsummers
    Mid-June flowers
    St. Peter’s Wildflowers
    Celebrating the Rappahannock River

    General Convention
    All About General Convention
    Bishop Harris on General Convention

    Ministries

    Special – May, June


    Shred-it preliminary results from June 12
    Shred-it Gallery
    Thy Kingdom Come
    St. Peter’s Anniversary

    Chancellor’s Village


    Chancellor Village Photos and sermon, May 14
    Chancellor’s Village Sermon, April 23

    Sacred Ground


    Foundations of an African-American Community
    Sacred Ground, May, 2024
    Sacred Ground, Feb., 2024
    Sacred Ground, Jan., 2024

    Season of Creation


    St. Peter’s and the Earth
    Team Up to clean up event, April 20

    Episcopal Church Men


    ECM Maintenance, May 11

    Newsletters


    June newsletter
    May newsletter

    Episcopal Church Women


    ECW Chair change
    ECW Spring meeting, April 9

    Jamaica


    Breakfast program in Jamaica

    Performance


    Portland Guitar Duo at St. Peter’s, April 19, 2024

    Village Harvest


    Summer meals
    Village Harvest, May 2024
    Village Harvest, April, 2024
    Village Harvest, March, 2024
    Village Harvest, Feb., 2024

    Education


    Creeds class notes 5 sessions- Conclusion
    God’s Garden collection

    Sermon, June 16, 2024, Pentecost 4, “Seeds”

    Mark 4:26-34, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

    When Jesus appears in Galilee at the beginning of Mark’s gospel, proclaiming the Good News of God, the first thing Jesus says is this. “The time if fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near.”  In his ministry Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of God, trying to help those who would listen understand that God’s kingdom was like no earthly kingdom that they had ever known.  Instead, it was something much more astounding and wonderful.  Many of the parables of Jesus are about the kingdom of God, including the two that we just heard read from today’s gospel. 

    In today’s gospel from Mark, Chapter 4, Jesus is teaching beside the sea, and there’s such a big crowd around him that he gets into a boat to teach.  During this teaching, Jesus tells parables.  

    Everyone gets to hear the parables, but Jesus doesn’t explain the meanings of his parables to the crowd.  He saves the explanations for the insiders, his disciples and followers.  

    Mark doesn’t record the explanation that Jesus must have shared about these two parables about the kingdom of God.  As Jesus’ followers, we get to prayerfully draw our own conclusions about what these parables might mean.   So let’s dive in and hope that God will help us out.    

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    Remembering St. Barnabas, June 12


    St. Barnabus Curing the Poor – Paolo Veronese.

    Collect for his day -"Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well­being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

    Who is St. Barnabus and why do we celebrate a feast day for him ?

    Three reasons why Barnabas is a famous saint:

    1. He was one of the most highly respected leaders in the early church. Born on the island of Cyprus (which means “copper” because of the mines there), his name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”).

    2. When Saul (as Paul was still known) appeared in Jerusalem after his conversion, he was spurned by the Christians he had persecuted. Yet when Barnabas “took him by the hand, and brought him to the Apostles”, and spoke up for him, Paul was immediately accepted (Acts 9:27).   

    He was Paul’s mentor and advocate and was the leader when he and Paul were sent off on the first missionary journey. But Paul’s personality and fervor soon dominated.

    Where it had been “Barnabas and Paul”, it was now “Paul and Barnabas”. (See Acts, Chapter 13.)

    3. Barnabas was so vital to the spread of the Gospel that he earned the highest accolade that any Christian can receive; “. . . . he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith”. (Acts 11:24) 

    Around 49, at a council in Jerusalem, St Peter helped to carry the argument of Paul and Barnabas that Gentile Christians need not be circumcised.

    It is odd, therefore, to discover Barnabas and Peter siding against Paul in refusing to eat with the Gentiles (Gal 2:13). Was this a matter of personal sympathy? The last we hear of Barnabas is of his falling out with Paul over the latter’s refusal to accept John Mark as a travelling companion.

    “So sharp was their disagreement, that they separated from each other; Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed off to Cyprus.” (Acts 15:36-40)

    So Barnabas passes from the written record. Tradition holds that he preached in Alexandria and Rome, before being martyred at Salamis.

    Lectionary, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, June 16, 2024

    I. Theme –  The Surprising and Unexpected Revelations of God

    "Mustard Tree" – Katy Jones

    The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

    Old Testament – Ezekiel 17:22-24
    Psalm – Psalm 92:1-4,11-14 Page 720, BCP
    Epistle –2 Corinthians 5:6-10,[11-13],14-17
    Gospel – Mark 4:26-34  

    Today’s readings are colored by lovely shades of green, and are filled with images of growth and newness. From the cedars of Ezekiel to the palm tree of the psalm, the flourishing of human beings is part of all creation’s fruitfulness. 

    In the first readings, Ezekiel gives the Israelites hope that one day God will restore their strength and Samuel sees beyond outward appearances to choose the least likely son of Jesse to anoint as king. Paul reminds his Corinthian communities that our eternal dwelling is not found here on earth but is with the lord.

    In the gospel, Jesus uses two parables to describe how God’s dynamic presence—the kingdom—grows in our lives. In Jesus’ parable of the kingdom, seed (God’s word) is scattered broadly. Perhaps as he told this story, Jesus was watching a farmer hand-sow a field. The farmer does not know how the seed sprouts and grows. The process goes on while the farmer sleeps and wakes, not by any effort on the farmer’s part, but by the mystery of growth itself. “The earth produces of itself” and the harvest comes. Jesus is not trying to explain the mystery of growth. He is commanding the same kind of trust in the reality of God’s kingdom that we depend upon in the natural world. Just as we believe a seed is growing in the dark ground while we cannot see it, so we believe the kingdom is growing in our dark world.

    For the spiritually perceptive, Jesus himself is the seed God has sown in the world. We believe in the divine kingdom already “planted” in Christ and trust the creative Spirit of God to bring forth the new harvest of redeemed human souls. 

    The word “harvest” is also used as a biblical note of warning. The sickle is judgment. The grain was ripe when Jesus came into the world. But now the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. God’s kingdom has already sprung up in Christ, and we must decide whether or not to be among the disciples who understand his words and live by them.

    God is doing something new, which is the new thing God began in creation. God is bringing the high down low and lifting up the low to be high. God is creating us anew, in a way in which we grow and live together in a way that honors God and each other, and not ourselves. The reign of God is built when we live for each other, building each other up, doing Christ’s work here on earth. The reign of God is built when we recognize that death does not have a hold on us, and that life is worth living when we live for others, not for ourselves. Everything old dies, but in Christ, everything becomes new, and life surpasses death.

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